Out of the shadows comes villainy, out of the heart comes love, and out of books comes our soul.
(Note: translation is interpretive)

Twitter Feed

Total Pageviews

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Rapture Practice by Aaron Hartzler

Rapture Practice opens with a note from the author, Aaron Hartzler:

"Something you should know up front about my family:
We believe that Jesus is coming back."
This
initial detail introduces us to Aaron's family, a family that believes
in the rapture, the idea that Jesus is going to come back down to earth
and bring good people up to heaven. Aaron has been a part of his
family's religious lifestyle for his entire life. He performs in plays
of Bible stories with his family. They don't go to movies, don't have a
TV, don't listen to many kinds of music. They are focused on living
properly so that when Jesus comes back, they will get to go to heaven.

At first glance, Rapture Practice
probably seems like one of those sensational stories that we see
nowadays, books about someone's abusive childhood or crazy cult. What's
so refreshing about this book is that it isn't sensational. The entirety of the book can be summed up in one conversation that Aaron has with his friend Bradley:

"But
what happens when the truth inside me feels different from what my
parents say is the truth?" I wonder aloud. I don't expect Bradley to
have an answer to this question, but he does.

"I think that's called growing up," he says.

This is, at its core, what Rapture Practice is about: growing up. It is the
coming-of-age story about a character who goes through the "journey of
change and self-discovery" that we have all discussed in English class.
And I loved it for that. I love how Aaron describes this universal
experience through the lens of his own unique situation, all the while
making it clear that his parents do love him and want what's best for
him. We can't hate them, even if we don't necessarily agree with what
they believe.

I just have a few relatively minor
complaints about the book. First off, I felt like it was missing an
epilogue. The conclusion of the regular part of the book was perfect,
bringing the story full circle to return to the idea of rapture.
However, Aaron leaves the reader wondering where he is at now--after
all, he's not a teenager anymore. He begins to question his sexuality
during his story and I would have liked to know how that played out with
his parents. Secondly, the writing wasn't always stellar. It was
perfectly functional, but a bit awkward at times, and the simplistic
voice used for 4-year-old Aaron doesn't evolve too much as Aaron gets
older.
Overall, I'd give Rapture Practice a 3.9. I would
read it again, and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a
good coming-of-age story. I'm not really sure about a food, but perhaps
I'll think of one later.

Young Adult Literary Links

Rating System(s)

For most of our reviews, we will try to give the reading a rating. For this, it seems we'll be using a dual system of food metaphor and a five-point scale. While the food metaphor is purely subjective, the five-point scale has a clear gradation of review:5- This book was extraordinary, unique, worthy of praise and remembrance.

4- A good book- well worth it!

3- Worth the time put into it. Not the best of choices, but it'll keep you busy.

2- If you absolutely must, look up this book, but don't waste any time on it when you could be reading other books.